1. Kunhardtia radiata — (Rapateaceae)
This hummingbird-pollinated genus is confined to the sandstone tepuis of the Guayana Highlands of northern South America. Note the family characteristic of distichous leaves (alternating in one plane). It represents an unusual monocot family that is restricted to tropical South America, except for the monotypic Maschalocephalus, which occurs in a sandstone region of Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa. Whether this disjunction is due to long distance dispersal or to vicariance (the sandstone area of West Africa representing a chip off the old Gondwanan block that split from South America in the Cretaceous) has long been debated. Historical biogeographical analysis indicates that the African genus arose less than 2 Mya due to dispersal over the Atlantic from South America.
2. Brocchinia spp. — a bromeliad (Bromeliaceae)
The Guayanan highland endemic genus Brocchinia has undergone a phenomenal adaptive radiation in methods of nutrient uptake. Species are carnivorous (B. reducta), ant-fed myrmecophytes (B. acuminata), and monocarpic tank-formers (B. micrantha). The genus is shown based on DNA evidence to be the “sister” genus to all other members of the bromeliad family (pineapples, Spanish moss, puya, etc.), a family almost exclusively American (one species of Pitcairnia found in West Africa as in Rapateaceae above).
3. Nepenthes truncata — Asian pitcher plant (Nepenthaceae)
Nepenthaceae are insectivorous plants that are easy to recognize because of the lidded pitchers borne on the end of a twining prolongation of the leaf. The Asian pitcher plants are confined to the Paleotropics and thus link Africa and Asia but not South America. The genus occurs in Madagascar, Indoasia, and Australasia. Note their similarity to the American pitcher plants (Sarracenia, Sarraceniaceae) seen in the back of greenhouse 6. The striking similarity in the form and function of the pitchers, now known due to evolutionary convergence, had caused the two groups to be previously placed in the same order.
Greenhouse 2
4. Crossandra infundibuliformis — (Acanthaceae)
Crossandra is a genus of about 50 species that is restricted to the Paleotropical floristic kingdom, although the family is pantropical in distribution. The genus is found in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia and the Indian subcontinent. A number of species of this genus, notably this species, are cultivated owing to their beautiful and often brightly colored flowers.
5. Malpighia glabra — Barbados cherry (Malpighiaceae)
This species, also known as acerola or wild crape-myrtle, is a tropical fruit-bearing shrub or small tree in the family Malpighiaceae. It ranges from southern Texas south through Mexico and the Caribbean to Peru and Bahia in Brazil. It is widely cultivated for its fruits high in vitamin C and other nutrients. Although the family is primarily pantropical, historical biogeographical analysis indicates that primitive members first evolved in temperate North Hemisphere and subsequently radiated separately into the tropical regions of the world – consistent with the “Boreotropics Hypothesis”.
6. Tecomaria capensis — Cape honeysuckle (Bignoniaceae)
Cape honeysuckle (sometimes called Tecoma capensis) is a fast growing, scrambling shrub that may grow up to 2-3m high and spread more than 2.5m. This shrub is restricted to the Cape Floristic Kingdom of the primarily Mediterranean region of South Africa and Mozambique. It is an evergreen plant in warm climate areas but loses its leaves in colder areas. Flowers are tubular and bird pollinated, attracting nectar-feeding birds, especially sunbirds.
7. Passiflora sp. — passionflower (Passifloraceae)
The genus exhibits a spectacular radiation of pantropical vines with showy flowers. Passiflora is well known for its co-evolutionary association with Heliconius butterflies which lay eggs on the leaves and whose larvae then feed on the leaves. In response, the former shows great variation in leaf morphology, foliar glands for ants (who patrol the leaves against herbivores), and even in producing structures involved in egg mimicry (to trick Heliconius butterflies into thinking the leaves already have been visited by another butterfly). A Central American species has been introduced in Hawaii where it is one of the three main ingredients of Hawaiian Punch but the species has also become one of Hawaii’s most ecological invasive weeds. Note the developing fleshy fruits on some of these plants.
Greenhouse 5
8. Gossypium hirsutum — American upland cotton (Malvaceae)
This is the common cotton of cultivation in the southern United States. Other species are used elsewhere. It is an allotetraploid combination of an African genome (the maternal parent) and a New World genome. How this could have occurred has led to much phytogeographic speculation. Proposals have included antiquity so great that continental drift was involved - or youth so extreme that it is a result of human carriage. What does the existence of Gossypium sandwichense (a Hawaiian endemic) imply for natural transatlantic long-distance dispersal?
9. Puya chilensis — puya (Bromeliaceae)
In the field, this type species of the large genus Puya is much more impressive, forming large colonies with huge yellow floral displays. A recent paper by former UW Botany grad, Rachel Jabailly, shows that this species and others from the Mediterranean region of central Chile are distinct from the rest of primarily Andean Puya. The uplift of the Andean Cordillera in the recent geologic past both created the Mediterranean climate necessary for this species and aided in the radiation of the rest of the genus throughout the Andes. Note the other members of the pineapple family on these benches.
Greenhouse 6
10. Fuchsia sp. — fuchsia (Onagraceae)
This woody genus is largely tropical/temperate South American with an extensive radiation in Andes where they have co-evolved with Neotropical hummingbirds. However, one group of species occurs in New Zealand and Tahiti. The fossil record (in Australia) and molecular systematics indicate that the genus is an example of an element of the great southern hemisphere temperate flora that broke apart roughly 30-50 Mya. Much more recent long distance dispersal has given rise to the species in Tahiti. Interestingly, Fuchsia is now known to be most close related to the high latitude, Northern Hemisphere herbaceous genus Circaea (enchanter’s nightshade).
11. Rhododendron sp. — azalea (Ericaceae)
Rhododenron is a large, mega-genus of the Northern Hemisphere – illustrating the common “Arcto-Tertiary” disjunct pattern. Most species are in Asia, especially the Himalayas, although a few occur in eastern North America, one in Wisconsin, and more in the Pacific Northwest. The tough, evergreen leaves as well as mycorrhizal associations are common in this family that is well adapted to nutrient-poor soil.
Greenhouse 7 — The succulent house
12. Rhipsalis — wickerware cactus (Cactaceae)
Rhipsalis is a genus of berry-fruited epiphytes. The only cacti native outside the New World are Rhipsalis baccifera in Africa and two closely related derivative species on Madagascar. Why does this disjunct distribution not suggest a close floristic affinity between the Americas and Africa? Note the lack of spines on this and most other epiphytic Cactaceae. The ancestral cacti were terrestrial xerophytes, and the epiphytes were derived from these — a classic example of "preadaptation".
13. Furcraea guerrerensis — (Agavaceae)
Furcraea is a genus of succulent plants belonging to the family Agavaceae. This family is most diverse in, although not restricted to, the New World, is the ecological replacement of the African aloe family, and comprises many familiar desert plants such as agave, yucca, and Joshua Tree. This species is native to tropical regions of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America. Plants of this genus are the origin of fique or cabuyo, a natural fiber. Note other Agavaceae in the desert house.
Greenhouse 8- Tropical High House
14. Coffea arabica — coffee (Rubiaceae)
The pits in the drupes (a fruit like a cherry or peach) are the coffee beans of commerce. Native to tropical Africa, the species is cultivated in tropical areas worldwide — providing a nice example of the common pattern seen in the biogeography of cultivated plants, where a species is often a more economically important crop outside its native range. Coffee is often grown as an understory shrub beneath trees, an agricultural system that mimics the commonest ecological role of members of the family as a whole — understory shrubs in tropical rainforests.
15. Eucalyptus — Eucalypt, Australian gum, blue-gum (Myrtaceae)
This is a characteristic genus of aromatic-leaved trees and shrubs in Australia, containing about 500 species, with only two or three extending north into Malaysia, east of Wallace's line. Species are much cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and Mediterranean regions throughout the world as a fast growing source of timber and firewood. Eucalyptus globulus is naturalized in California, and areas there that were originally grassland would revert to eucalypt woodlands in the absence of human disturbance.
16. Ravenala madagascariensis — traveler's palm (Strelitziaceae)
Note this large banana-like plant near the windows. The monotypic genus is endemic to Madagascar and is pollinated by lemurs. The other members of the family are sunbird-pollinated Strelitzia native to subtropical southern Africa (one, the histrionic bird-of-paradise seen in the corner of Greenhouse 2) and the bat-pollinated Phenakospermum in Amazonian South America. Are we seeing the ghost of Gondwana?
17. Adansonia madagascariensis – baobab (Malvaceae)
The baobabs or bottle trees are an example of a genus restricted to the African and Australasian tropics. The genus has most species in Madagascar, one widespread species in Africa, and one species in northwestern Australia — an example of a common Indian Ocean arc distribution. These trees from Madagascar are just beginning to show the thickened trunk - more typical of the species.
1st Floor Birge lobby and on 2nd floor foyer above stairs
18. Caryota mitis — fishtail palm (Palmae)
These palms are known as fishtail palms because of the shape of their leaves. One of the more widely known species is Caryota urens, which yields sap used to make an unrefined sugar called jaggery, and also to make palm wine. The genus is almost strictly Asian and is one example of plants that largely honors the Wallace Line by occurring west of the Wallace Line. One more recently derived species occurs east of the Wallace Line – perhaps evolving after the Australian and Asian plates collided.
